Georgia Medicare CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment (2026)

If a doctor in Georgia suspects memory loss or has diagnosed dementia, Medicare covers a dedicated visit to test thinking and build a written plan for care. This CPT 99483 cognitive assessment is a thorough, roughly 50-minute evaluation, far more than a routine checkup: it looks at memory, safety, medications, mood, and the caregiver's situation, then ends with a written care plan the family takes home. This guide explains what the visit covers, who qualifies, what it costs under Medicare Part B, how to ask a doctor for it, and where Georgia families can find help.

In This Guide

• What Is a CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment?
• What the CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment Visit Includes
• Who Qualifies for a CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment
• What a CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment Costs in Georgia
• How to Get the Visit for a Family Member
• How the Visit Connects to Other Medicare Services
• The Federal Framework Behind the Benefit
• Telehealth for Rural Georgia
• Major Georgia Memory Care Programs
• Real-World Examples
• Where to Get Help in Georgia
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

What Is a CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment?

The Cognitive Assessment and Care Plan Services benefit is Medicare's way of paying for a full workup when memory or thinking is failing. A standard office visit does not leave time for what a dementia evaluation actually requires: a detailed history from both the patient and a caregiver, formal cognitive testing, a look at safety and daily function, a medication review, an advance care planning conversation, and a written plan for what comes next. Medicare created a separate code so doctors are paid to do all of that in one visit.

That code is CPT 99483, effective January 1, 2018 under the CY 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule. It replaced an earlier code, HCPCS G0505, which ran for one year starting January 1, 2017 under the CY 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule (CMS-1654-F). The two codes describe the same comprehensive service; if you see G0505 in older records, it is the predecessor of today's CPT 99483.

For Georgia families, this benefit sits inside a real local landscape. More than 180,000 Georgians are living with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia, a number the Georgia Department of Public Health expects to grow significantly over the next decade as the state's population ages; the state also tracks self-reported memory and thinking concerns (subjective cognitive decline) as an early sign of cognitive impairment.2 The state coordinates its response through the Georgia State Plan for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, run by the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services, and academic memory care is anchored by the Emory Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, one of the National Institute on Aging (NIA)-designated Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers, along with the Emory Brain Health Center and the Augusta University Brain Health Initiative.

What the CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment Visit Includes: The 10 Required Elements

Medicare defines CPT 99483 by 10 required elements. All 10 must be addressed for the visit to be billed as a cognitive assessment, which is what makes it so much more thorough than an ordinary appointment:

1. Cognition-focused evaluation with formal testing, using a validated tool such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), or Mini-Cog.
2. Medical decision making of moderate or high complexity, reflecting the many factors weighed in a dementia workup.
3. Functional assessment of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), such as bathing, dressing, managing money, and managing medications, including whether the person can still make their own decisions.3
4. Standardized staging of dementia severity, using a scale such as the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) or the Functional Assessment Staging Test (FAST).
5. Medication reconciliation, with attention to drugs that can worsen memory in older adults (anticholinergics, sedatives, and certain sleep and pain medications).
6. Assessment of mood and behavior, including screening for depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms.
7. Safety assessment, covering driving, home hazards, wandering, and financial vulnerability.
8. Caregiver assessment, identifying who provides care, what they understand, what they need, and whether they can take on more.
9. Advance care planning, so the person's wishes are recorded while they can still express them.
10. A written care plan with community referrals, shared with the patient and caregiver and covering diagnosis, treatment, safety, caregiver support, and follow-up.

The last element is the point of the whole visit: the family should leave with a written plan, not just a diagnosis.

Who Qualifies for a CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment

The visit is for any Medicare beneficiary with suspected or established cognitive impairment. That includes mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease at any stage, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, mixed dementias, and other cognitive disorders. It is appropriate both for a first diagnostic workup and for updating the care plan of someone already diagnosed.

Two practical rules matter for families:

• A caregiver needs to be involved. Because caregiver assessment is a required element, a family member or friend who helps with care should attend, in person or by phone or video. They provide history the patient may not remember and take part in planning. A person with no caregiver at all may have trouble meeting this element.
• It is generally once a year. CPT 99483 is typically billed once per year per beneficiary. A repeat can be appropriate sooner if cognition changes substantially.

What a CPT 99483 Cognitive Assessment Costs in Georgia

This visit is not free preventive care. Unlike a screening, it is subject to standard Medicare Part B cost-sharing:

• The Part B deductible applies first: $283 for 2026.1
• 20% coinsurance applies after the deductible, meaning you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount.1
• Because the visit is long and the approved amount is meaningful, that 20% can be a real out-of-pocket cost. Ask the office what to expect before the appointment.

Two forms of help erase most or all of that share. Georgians with Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) status through the Georgia Medicare Savings Programs have their Part B cost-sharing covered, and QMB in 2026 allows monthly income up to about $1,350 for a single applicant.4 A Medigap (Medicare Supplement) plan also covers Part B cost-sharing according to the plan's benefits. If money is a barrier to getting the assessment, check QMB eligibility first.

How to Get the Visit for a Family Member

You do not need a specialist or a referral to start. Here is the practical path most Georgia families take:

If the primary care office is not comfortable doing the full assessment, ask for a referral to a Georgia memory care program (see below), which can do it in person or by telehealth.

How the Visit Connects to Other Medicare Services

A cognitive assessment rarely stands alone. It usually fits into a longer arc of Medicare-covered care:

• The Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is often the starting point. The AWV includes a required check for signs of cognitive impairment, and when it turns up a concern, the CPT 99483 assessment is the appropriate follow-up. The two can be billed in the same month when both are done and are distinct.
• Chronic Care Management (CCM) takes over after diagnosis for ongoing coordination across dementia and other conditions, month to month.
• Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) supports the depression, anxiety, or agitation that often come with dementia.
• Advance Care Planning (CPT 99497 and 99498) can be billed separately when a longer conversation about future care is needed beyond what the assessment already covers.
• Neuropsychological testing by a neuropsychologist (a separate service) can add detailed cognitive profiling when the picture is complex.

The Federal Framework Behind the Benefit

The payment authority for CPT 99483 comes from Section 1861(s)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act, which lets Medicare pay for physician services, with the specific code set through the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Clinical staff can help gather information under the incident-to rules at 42 CFR 410.26, though the visit is principally physician or advanced-practitioner work. The Annual Wellness Visit's cognitive-impairment check comes from Section 1861(hhh) of the Social Security Act, added by Section 4103 of the Affordable Care Act.

The cognitive assessment benefit also sits inside a broader federal effort on dementia. The National Alzheimer's Project Act (Public Law 111-375), signed January 4, 2011, created the federal framework coordinating Alzheimer's research, services, and public health, including the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease. The BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act (Public Law 115-406), signed December 31, 2018 and reauthorized in 2024, built public health capacity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for early detection and caregiver support. The 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 reinforced the same framework. Together with Medicare's cognitive assessment payment, these laws represent a substantial national commitment to dementia care.

Telehealth for Rural Georgia

Specialty memory care is concentrated in metro Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Savannah, and Athens, so a rural family can face a one-to-two-hour drive to the nearest program. Medicare's telehealth flexibilities help close that gap. CPT 99483 can be delivered by synchronous audio-video telehealth, cognitive tests validated for video (such as a video version of the MoCA) can be used, and a caregiver can join by video or phone. Some parts, such as a hands-on home safety check or an on-road driving evaluation, still need to happen in person.

Emory Brain Health Center, the Augusta University Brain Health Initiative, and other programs have expanded telehealth cognitive assessment for rural Georgia patients. Rural primary care practices and federally qualified health centers can also perform CPT 99483 directly when they have the time and training, with referral reserved for complex cases. The Georgia State Plan for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, coordinated by the Division of Aging Services, includes goals for expanding rural access through telehealth and primary care training.

Major Georgia Memory Care Programs

Comprehensive cognitive assessment is available across Georgia at:

• Emory Brain Health Center and the Emory Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (Atlanta), an NIA-designated research center offering advanced imaging, biomarker testing, and telehealth statewide.
• Augusta University Brain Health Initiative (Augusta).
• Wellstar Memory Health Network (metro Atlanta and northwest Georgia).
• Piedmont Healthcare geriatric and neurology programs.
• Atrium Health Navicent (Macon, central Georgia).
• Memorial Health (Savannah, coastal Georgia).
• Phoebe Putney Health System (Albany, southwest Georgia).
• Northeast Georgia Health System (Gainesville).
• Atlanta VA Health Care System Geriatrics and its Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, for eligible veterans.

Real-World Examples

The following examples are illustrative and hypothetical, meant to show how the visit plays out, not to describe specific patients.

Example 1: A first evaluation after the Annual Wellness Visit. A 75-year-old man in Fulton County has a borderline Mini-Cog result during his Annual Wellness Visit, and his wife mentions recent trouble managing finances. His doctor schedules a CPT 99483 assessment at the Emory Brain Health Center. Formal testing shows MCI. All 10 elements are completed, including a driving-safety discussion and a written care plan with community referrals. He owes the Part B deductible (already met) plus 20% coinsurance.1

Example 2: A rural evaluation by telehealth. A 78-year-old woman in Worth County lives far from any memory program. Rather than drive 175 miles to Atlanta, her family chooses a telehealth CPT 99483 visit with Emory. The MoCA is given over video, her daughter joins as caregiver and shares photos of the home for the safety review, and the visit ends with a written plan and a probable early Alzheimer's diagnosis. Cost-sharing is the Part B deductible plus 20% coinsurance.1

Example 3: A diagnosis that leads to ongoing care. A 76-year-old man in Hall County is seen at Northeast Georgia neurology for two years of personality and behavior changes. The CPT 99483 assessment points to frontotemporal dementia. The plan includes firearm-safety steps given his impulsivity, caregiver support for his wife, and a hand-off to Chronic Care Management for month-to-month coordination of his dementia and other conditions.

Where to Get Help in Georgia

Learn More

Find personalized help navigating Medicare cognitive assessment and dementia care at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.